Tuesday, January 16

Rider profile - James Cottrell

I am racing four years this is the first year in super-twins and trying to adjust to the bike or lack of. My dad is bike mad so all of us were on bikes at a young age, even my wife takes a bike for a spin and my son Dean is known for blowing an engine or two so we we are all reared on WD40.
Well this Super-Twin racing is some craic, it's a lot different then Pre-injection as Production bikes are in the mix, with leaving cert students high on spot cream making gaps in the tyre walls. I found myself in there too but I don't bounce well, so off to Naas A&E for a ceiling staring competition.
You get some mix of lads and lassies on the grid from top road racers UGP winners, Manx and international riders. You never know who's on the program so if you are running 4th or 5th one weekend the next you are out of the points, but tyres do last a long time and so does an overtake! Sod all brake horse power means you see a lot of funny facial expressions from riders, pit crews, marshals, one eye photographers and the angry chequered flag guys.
This year we got 3rd in masters and 3rd in the Irish championships & awarded 3rd in Southern Star, all of which I am honoured and humbled by, I just can't believe it! This means a lot for a old man like me , all of which I could not have done without our team.
Our little team consist of four riders, Nigel Colgan, Dicky Walsh, Dominic Cottrell, my brother, who keeps having a go on the brakes & myself. Together we consume a lot of Mam's sausages! The pit crew is my son Dean,Dad, my wife Sandra, and our nearest competitor as their board is far more accurate. The weekend for us involves our families, with our kids on bike's getting a shout out from the tower, to our wives and sisters-in-law shouting at the bar. Its the lads first race year and they have done well competing on all tracks to get their A license, as the road is all they talk about, that and ER's SV's down on power, chicken fried rice, beer.
If any one is thinking about starting racing or falling with style this is the class to be as there is mainly two different type of bike Er650 & sv650 so plenty of spare parts in the paddock and always someone to race with as the grids are mainly full.Not sure who the photo owner is

About Andy Quinn

Irish Superbike Racing is Shane Graham, Andy Quinn and James McCann with some web help from Peter Trevaskis.